In February 1998, Andrew Wakefield published results of a small study, in
which he described, for the first time, some specific changes in the ileum and
colon of children with autism and suggested a possible relationship with the
measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination. (1) This and subsequent publications by
the same team have changed the way parents perceive autism and vaccination. The
attack on Wakefield and his work by the vaccine authorities and the pro-vaccine
lobby was prompt, massive and relentless. Two publications by a team from
Finland are most often quoted. (2,3). In both, the authors describe the adverse
events reported following the administration of some 3 million doses of MMR
vaccine to about 1.8 million individuals during a national immunization campaign
in Finland between 1982 and 1996. Children were immunized between 14 and 18
months of age and again at 6. Also receiving the vaccine were older children and
selected groups of young adults, such as military recruits and nursing students
(2,3,4). The main authors of the two publications in question were H. Peltola
and A. Patja and both stated that there was no evidence for MMR
vaccine-associated inflammatory bowel disease or autism in the 14-year study
(the title of the Peltola paper).

Many criticized the study findings and its conclusions because:

Fewer than 200 individuals, those who had developed acute events within 3
weeks of vaccination, were followed for 14 years. The rest of the 1.8 million
vaccine-recipients were not.

Both autism and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are chronic illnesses,
which develop over months or years. No one ever claimed that they start within
21 days of vaccination.

Wakefield never contended that children who develop diarrhea immediately
after vaccination, a known and accepted reaction, are those who will go on to
develop IBD as young adults.

The Finnish study ended in 1996. Autism and IBD were never mentioned in
connection with MMR vaccination prior to 1998

Peltola stated on BBC Radio-4 on January 13, 2001 that the study was not
designed to look at IBD and autism

The vaccine manufacturer funded the study.

But because of an expensive and extensive campaign, the pro-vaccine lobby
prevailed and the study findings are constantly interpreted in the press, and
over the Internet, as proving that there was no increase in autism and IBD in
the millions who received the MMR vaccine during the vaccination campaign in
Finland and were followed for 14 years.

Obviously, this is not true.

Autism & Inflammatory Bowel Disease have increased in Finland in
recent years.

Autism. M. Kielinen et al, in a study published in the
Journal of European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (5) described a significant
rise in autism in the northern provinces of Oulu and Lapland, which represent
1/8 of the total population of Finland. The Kielinen study included all children
born in the two provinces, between 1979 and 1994. Every single one of those
children was eligible and must have received the MMR vaccine. The authors
personally reviewed all records of children with autism to determine that they
fulfilled the criteria of ICD-10 and DSM-IV. The cumulative incidence of autism
was 12.2/10,000, a significant increase when compared to the previously reported
incidence of 4.75/10,000 by Vinni and Timonen. The increase in the younger
children, all born in the second half of the MMR campaign, was even more
striking. In the 5 to 7 age group, the cumulative incidence was 20.7/10,000 or
more than 1 in 500.

There is no reason to doubt that this increase is not occurring
nationwide nor that it is less spectacular than in other European countries.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease. According to figures obtained
from the Statistical Branch of the Social Insurance Institution of Finland, the
number of patients entitled for special refunds because of Crohn’s and
Ulcerative Colitis DOUBLED between 1992 and 2001, from 9 737 to 20 807. In the
same period, the prevalence rate per thousand of the two conditions also doubled
while the population of Finland only increased by 3%. (Table I)

Year

Patients with IBD Entitled to Special Refunds

Prevalence per 1000

Population (1000s)

1992

9737

1.9

5056

1993

10958

2.2

5079

1994

12035

2.4

5092

1995

13176

2.6

5118

1996

14311

2.8

5134

1997

15605

3.0

5150

1998

16868

3.3

5162

1999

18195

3.5

5174

2000

19493

3.8

5185

2001

20807

4.0

5199

Table I All figures from the Statistical Branch of the Social Insurance
Institution. Increase in the number of patients
entitled to special refunds for Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis
in Finland

Also of concern is the fact that, not only did the number of patients with
IBD reporting to Social Services increase yearly, but that the rate of increase
is accelerating, with more patients having registered in the last five years
than in the previous five.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease is most often diagnosed between the ages of 15 and
35. The older children, adolescents, nursing students and army recruits who
received the MMR vaccine in Finland starting in 1982, reached that vulnerable
age in the last ten years and figure in all likelihood, in the increasing
statistics. No one is claiming that other causes of IBD do not exist because
they certainly do. Nevertheless if the rates of Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative
Colitis continue to increase and accelerate in Finland in the next few years,
when the younger vaccinees reach adulthood, then Peltola and his colleagues will
owe the scientific community an explanation and the vaccine authorities will be
accountable for endorsing their unwarranted conclusions.

Addendum

Autism and Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Finland: A Recent Increase.

Despite numerous attempts, I was unable to obtain accurate statistics on the
incidence of autism in Finland before the publication of Autism and Inflammatory
Bowel Disease in Finland: A Recent Increase. The last agency I contacted, The
Social Welfare and Health Care Statistics in Finland or STAKES did not have any
autism listing and a representative suggested that I contact Autismiliitto.

On November 11, 2002, a spokesperson for
autismiliitto.fi informed me that she did not have accurate figures but that “we
are estimated to have 10,000 autistic people in Finland and about 40,000 people
with Asperger’s syndrome”.

Better and earlier diagnosis may have led to the
identification of some of these cases, but it clearly cannot explain all of
them. The thought that in Finland 1 of every 100 individuals may have an
autistic spectrum disorder is frightening (50,000 cases in a population of
slightly over 5 million). This would translate, in the US, to 2.88 million ASD
cases. Taking into account the fact that the incidence is higher in children and
younger adults and the well-known gender difference, one can only guess the
affliction in young Finnish males.

The high ratio of Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) is
also extremely relevant to the present controversy. Kielinen pointed out, in the
study mentioned above, that in the Northern Provinces, there were more children
recently with IQs above 70 than had been reported in earlier studies. Other
investigators have reported a similar trend worldwide.

Children affected since birth and in early
infancy, are usually more profoundly brain damaged than those who develop
normally until their first birthday and then sink into autism in the second year
of life, some after receiving the MMR vaccine.

Any official statistics on the incidence of
Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome in Finland in the last 15 years will be greatly
appreciated.

Meanwhile, Professor Peltola needs to
answer two questions, specifically:
1 Why he claimed that there was no increase in autism in Finland during and
following the national MMR vaccination campaign when clearly there has been one.
2. What he believes is the cause of this remarkable increase in Autistic
Spectrum Disorders in Finland since the national massive vaccination campaign?